1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for dispensing flattened articles, such as paper handkerchiefs, paper serviettes, boxes of moist towels and the like, and more particularly to a device allowing the articles to be placed one by one within the reach of the user""s hand, while operating the device with one hand alone.
2. State of the Art
Currently, paper handkerchiefs are sold independently folded and stacked in pocket packs containing a small number of handkerchiefs, or in table-top boxes containing a large number of handkerchiefs folded in interleaved fashion, whereby the removal of one of them causes the following one to be positioned in a way easy to take by the hand.
These packaging arrangements of paper handkerchiefs suffer the drawback that both hands must be used to remove a handkerchief, since in the pocket packs, the pack is simply a bag, with a closure flap, which must be taken in one hand to open the closure flap and remove the handkerchief with the other, both hands also being required to close the pack. Likewise, in the table-top boxes, in view of the light weight of the item, it is also necessary to use both hands to remove a handkerchief, one to take hold of the handkerchief and the other to hold the box and overcome the resistance of removing the handkerchief and positioning the next one in an accessible way.
This drawback becomes more acute when the user of the handkerchief is the driver of a motor vehicle, in which case the operation of withdrawing a paper handkerchief from its pack is a driving risk, since he performs it while holding the steering wheel at the same time, with the inevitable loss of control and attention, or temporarily abandons the steering wheel, which is even worse. To try and perform this operation with one hand alone is not impossible, but requires great skill and seriously reduces the driver""s attention.
Furthermore, where a motor vehicle is concerned, the handkerchief packs or boxes are usually exposed to dust and pollution, since in many cases there is no suitable place to locate them, or when there is, it usually consists of the glove box, a housing in the arm-rest between the front seats, etc, requiring an obviously risky additional maneuver, such as opening the lid of the distant glove box, of the arm-rest, etc., to reach the handkerchief pack or box and remove them from their lodging so as then to remove the handkerchiefs one at a time.
It would, therefore, be desirable for it to be possible to reach a single paper handkerchief and other similar items using one hand alone and without having to pay special attention to the operation, at the same time as they are located in an accessible position, unaffected by the environmental pollution.
With a view to achieving the foregoing purpose, the solution has been adopted of using dispensing means which, when operated by one hand alone, automatically deliver one unit of the article to be dispensed, comfortably within reach of the same hand.
In accordance with the foregoing premises, the dispensing device of the invention has been developed, which device comprises a container for the articles which is preferably parallelepipedic in shape and which, being capable of sliding in an open-mouthed holder of greater length than the said container, is urged by a spring forcing it against a retractable stop and holding it flush with the open mouth of the holder, the latter having fixedly attached to the wall thereof opposite the said open mouth, a spring end and a projecting tab, parallel to the plane of sliding of the container, which is at the same level as a rear opening through which it can penetrate, formed in the inner smaller side of the container above the level of the lower larger side thereof, the height of said opening being slightly greater than the thickness of the tab and equivalent to the thickness of the article, and mates with another front opening, similar to the former which, provided in the outer smaller side of the container, has a height slightly greater than the article and a length slightly greater than the width thereof.
It is a feature of the invention that the projecting tab penetrates to such a distance within the container, through the rear opening, that, when the container is pushed by the hand, it moves the article facing it in a space sufficient to allow the other end thereof to project through the front opening of the container in an amount sufficient to allow it to be seized by the hand, once the container, urged by the spring, has recovered the rest position thereof in which it is flush with the open mouth of the holder.
The invention contemplates that the width of the tab be the same as or smaller than the width of the article.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the flattened articles to be dispensed one by one are arranged horizontally in a pile with a slight clearance around the perimeter thereof in the container, exiting therefrom through the front opening of the container, situated horizontally, and being lowered in the interior thereof by gravity and/or by pressure means, as the articles located directly on the inside bottom surface of the container are dispensed.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the set of flattened articles to be dispensed one by one is arranged vertically, resting on one of the edges thereof, in the container, exiting therefrom through the front opening of the container, situated vertically adjacent a wall of the container, and with the set of articles being urged against said wall under pressure from a plate urged by a spring.
It is contemplated that the holder be fitted with the retractable stop limiting the exit from the container, said stop being urged by a spring maintaining it in an active position and having manual means which, by overriding said spring, allow the container to be removed for refilling. The container is provided with an anvil in which the retractable stop engages.